30 DAYS
by The-Chirping-Cat
Summary: Spin-off from 'From the Wilderness'. One month. Thirty days. Thirty prompts! Come see what everyone thinks the gang and the Black Arms get up to during that one month of waiting! Still accepting prompts (though please read From the Wilderness Chapter 8 and the three fillers for a better idea of what this fanfic will be about).
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! This is a series of special stories that happened in 'From the Wilderness', during the one-month wait to get to the ARK. Not sure if this is going to be a 30-chapter fanfic, but it might get close. Hope you'll enjoy the shenanigans Sonic will drag Shadow into~!**

 **GuardianDragon98: Thank you for your prompt! It will be added, but before that chapter comes, I want to put out ideas of my own as well, kinda like an intro to the whole fanfic.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog franchise or anything related to it.**

* * *

MOUNTAIN VIEW

The sun hadn't even risen yet, but Sonic was already up. Truth to be told, he had already been up around four in the morning thanks to a certain insisting echidna.

With a large jaw-popping yawn, the blue hedgehog grumpily trudged all the way to the Black Arms' den. Last night, despite Shadow not caring whether Sonic camped out with them or not, the speedster decided to bunk with Tails and Knuckles. Quite a waste of time that turned out to be.

As Sonic mentioned before, Knuckles woke them both up at the ungodly hour of _four in the morning_ , persisting that he and Tails leave for the mainland (his exact words were Angel Island) immediately. As Sonic planned to stay with Shadow ( _for several reasons; to map out the island for the President so that the task would finish quicker; to reassure Shadow that no, they didn't just up and leave the island for good_ ), he got kicked out of the X-Tornado ( _personally_ by Knuckles. At least they had the decency to drop him close to the Black Arms' den, or else it would be a LONG trek).

Now, with his meager camping supplies in a drawstring bag, he was planning on crashing at the den site. Sure, he got several things planned out already, but right now, it was just TOO EARLY! Not only did he had to get up so early, he fell asleep quite late at night, too busy with a certain bucket list. Thus, he was currently running on a mere _two-hour sleep_ and was as grumpy as heck.

 _'Knucklehead will pay for this...as soon as I'm awake enough to think of a good revenge prank,'_ Sonic thought as he barely avoided stumbling and tripping over another rock. Yawns kept on escaping him and his eyes were starting to tear up from just how sleepy he was. _'I wonder if sleepwalking is a good hobby to take up right about now. At least that way, I can sleep and walk to where I want to go at the same time... Oh great, now I'm contemplating weird things. I could use a cup of coffee or something right about now!'_

Sleepy Sonic somehow managed to get to the clearing without much trouble (note that trouble meant tripping over something and injuring himself worse than he already was, or bumping too hard against tree trunks; he _swore_ the tree wasn't there when he last looked!). Looking around in the faint light, he saw that only two Black Arms were awake, guarding the den. Too tired to be wary, he raised a hand up in a wave before trudging over to the cave entrance. Thankfully, the Black Arms recognized him and let him be, one even snorting in amusement at the sleep-veiled expression.

Sleepy Sonic thankfully found the cave entrance with no problem and didn't care for getting scratched or scrapped as he slumped inside. The cave floor was covered in Black Arms, all snoozing in content. It sparked a slight sense of jealousy and longing inside Sleepy Sonic, but he pushed it away. Soon, he would be doing the same. Just needed to find a clear spot... Heck, he wouldn't even care if he had to sleep on top of a Black Arm! As long as he got his sleep...

"Hedgehog, what are you doing here at this time of the day?"

The familiar deep voice was huskier; Shadow also wanting to sleep rather than be awake to confront the intruding hedgehog. Sleepy Sonic could only manage a hum while his mind spouted out reasons and curses at Knuckles.

"...Forget it. It's too early," Shadow groaned, too tired to make sense of whatever Sleepy Sonic was mumbling under his breath. Sleepy Sonic agreed wholeheartedly, moving closer to the black hedgehog and, without a single care in the world, slumping right against him. The warmth of the long fur was quick to lull him to sleep. He barely managed to mutter an excuse before his mind gave up the battle for sleep.

Shadow eyed the blue hedgehog, surprised by the audacity. He must be quite tired that he actually just stood there, thinking over the situation for five seconds before even thinking of moving the hedgehog off him. But once he managed to regain control over his mind, he picked up the hedgehog from under his arms and trudged back to his sleeping spot. Once he reached the bedding, he unceremoniously dropped Sonic before moving further away to curl up and head back to sleep.

* * *

Hours later

A particularly bright shaft of sunlight was what woke Sonic up. Groaning grumpily, he turned away from the sun, still too sleepy to think of getting up. For a minute or two, he seemed to be heading right back to dreamland. Unfortunately, the journey there was promptly interrupted by a hard nudge against his side.

Sonic swatted away whatever it was that interrupted his much-needed sleep. It did little to deter the Black Arm though, and a harder nudge was his reward. Sonic groaned louder, almost borderline whining at this point. "Sleep! I need sleep!" he nearly wailed, curling up into a ball. Usually, he would have the state of mind to harden his quills and stick them out so that the other couldn't nudge him again, but his quills mirrored their owner's tiredness, merely flopping back down.

There was a loud growl right next to his ear and Sonic yelped, whirling around, eyes snapping open and glaring openly (pleadingly) at the Black Arm. He recognized the amber spirals decorating her legs and groaned, "Amber-Spiral, just let me sleep!"

Amber-Spiral shook her head. She growled again and nudged Sonic insistently. The blue hedgehog was just as stubborn though, curling back into a tight ball and making sure to press his ears to his head. He closed his eyes again and pointedly ignore all the nudging and growling he was receiving for his efforts.

It went on for nearly ten minutes before the nudges stopped. Sonic nearly cried in relief. He was getting his sleep...!

The bedding below him disappeared as he was lifted up.

...or not.

Sonic uncurled from his ball, nearly falling down as his action caused whoever was carrying him to lose their balance. The blue hedgehog couldn't care about it; he would even be glad if he were dropped back onto the bedding. But to his dismay, the arms merely shifted, now holding him up from under his arms and dangling him. "Hedgehog, you will wake up this instant."

"Shadow! Don't wanna!" Sonic growled, glaring grumpily at the unimpressed hedgehog.

"It is already noon," Shadow argued back.

"Don't care. Just drop me back down. I'll sleep on the stone floor if I have to!"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Hedgehog...don't make me wake you up," he warned.

Usually, Sonic would be smart enough to know that Shadow carried out his threats (there was just something about the black hedgehog that _screamed_ 'when I make threats, I plan on carrying them out'). Unfortunately, his common sense was still tired, thus all the cocky hedgehog did was retort, "Make me."

It would be something he regretted for the entire day.

The cave nearly echoed with Sonic's scream of shock and fear as Shadow dropped him...right into the small pool in the second section of the cave. Thankfully, the pool wasn't that deep, only up to Sonic's waist, but it scared the heck out of the blue hedgehog, startling the sleep right out of him. He tripped over his feet in his haste to get out of the pool and trembled from the cold water and fear-induced adrenaline, resting on all fours to regain his composure.

"Awake yet?"

"..." Sonic couldn't even muster up the words. A mixture of anger, fear, indignation and more swirled in his chest. Once he caught himself, he gave Shadow a pointed glare. "You might want to watch your back Shadow," he warned lowly. "Who knows if something might happen."

"You dare challenge me?" A dangerous smirk stretched across tan lips. "Would you like to take another dip to cool off?"

Sonic couldn't choose a response between anger and indignation. He merely growled quietly as he got up to his feet. With the air of a wounded pride, he shook off the water on his legs, dusted his fur and strode past the amused Shadow with his nose pointed up. Making a bee-line for his bag, he pulled out some rations and chewed on them moodily to satisfy himself and his hunger.

Amber-Spiral took the chance to plop herself next to the moody hedgehog, snorting in mirth at Sonic's situation. "If you're here to laugh at me, please leave," Sonic grumbled. Amber-Spiral just gave him a look before nudging Sonic again. The blue hedgehog groaned and flopped against Amber-Spiral, fruitlessly pushing his body against hers. "Can't a hedgehog get any sleep?" he muttered, both to himself and Amber-Spiral. "I mean, I only got TWO hours of sleep! A hedgehog needs seven hours to be fully-capable at the very least!"

Amber-Spiral rolled her eyes at the drama-queen undertone in Sonic's words. She pushed back, as if telling him to 'suck it up and deal with it'.

"You're not helping."

Another snort and Sonic gave up, resigning himself to finishing his lunch.

* * *

Much later, Sonic was in a better mood, enough to relax and remember the bucket list he planned last night. With just slightly-less enthusiasm than when he first made it (being waken up THAT rudely by the mobian the list was for did that to you), he took it out and glanced at the first item of the day.

'Exploration'

 _'I'll need to ask Shadow if he knows any good spot,'_ Sonic thought as he placed the list back inside the bag. _'Maybe a high spot, someplace I can get a good look at the whole island and scope out the place.'_ With that decided, he got up to find the black hedgehog.

Heading outside, he came to the clearing that was surprisingly missing a lot of Black Arms. In fact, the only Black Arms he noticed were all back inside the cave and - by the groups of pups playing around them - parents. _'Where is everyone? And where is Shadow?'_

A huff blew right past his ear and Sonic whirled around, relaxing when he recognized Red-Tail. "Red-Tail? Where is everyone?"

The Black Arm nudged one of the bones littering the clearing and made a pantomime of biting and chewing something. "...Eating?" Red-Tail shook his head and nudged the bones again, before crouching down and stalking at an unseen prey. "Wait, you mean...bare bones, so no more food?" A nod. "The stalking... you mean they're out hunting?" Another nod. "Alright then... what about Shadow? Is he out hunting too?" A shake. "So what's he doing?"

Red-Tail immediately issued a pose that looked too much entirely like brooding and Sonic burst into laughter, immediately realizing what Red-Tail was implying. "So, sulking somewhere, eh? Can you take me to him? I have something that will keep him busy for a while and get him to do something other than *pft* brooding."

The bright red tail swished in approval at Sonic's words. Red-Tail stood up, but before he left, he turned towards the den's entrance and barked. A high-pitched croon was the reply as Amber-Spiral stuck her head out. The two Black Arms exchanged a conversation before Amber-Spiral came out, taking a seat on one of the large rocks and keeping watch over the clearing. Red-Tail nodded and turned back to Sonic. He gestured towards the jungle with his head and Sonic took the cue, following the Black Arm.

Red-Tail led Sonic through the jungle, taking him to the west. Instead of following the mountain range though, he followed a stream. Its banks were lined with smooth weathered stones, a border between the water and the rest of the jungle. The stream snaked across the island, taking them northwest.

As they reached a wider part of the stream, Red-Tail stopped. Sonic paused as well and the Black Arm chuffed, gesturing with his head towards a black figure sitting on the other side of the stream. It was Shadow, and Sonic couldn't help but be amused when he saw that pose Red-Tail showed him was an exact copy of Shadow's.

"Shadow," Red-Tail called out, drawing his leader's attention. Garnet eyes looked up from their far-off gaze and noticed the Black Arm and the blue hedgehog standing on the other side of the stream.

"Red-Tail. Hedgehog," Shadow acknowledged the two, though by the frown on his face, he didn't seem pleased that the two of them were here, interrupting his alone time. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I kinda need your help," Sonic replied with a friendlier expression in hopes that Shadow would be more cooperative in doing so. "As you're the one who knows the island more than I do, I was hoping you could show me around?"

"..."

"With your help, we can map out the island faster and leave sooner."

Those seemed to be the magic words as Shadow stood up. With a powerful jump, he leapt over the stream, easily reaching the other bank. Sonic inwardly smirked as Shadow looked over impatiently. "Where do you want to start?"

"Someplace high, so that I can get a good overview of the island," Sonic replied while Red-Tail took the chance to head back to the den, leaving the two to themselves. "Know a good spot?"

Shadow snorted. "Of course I do. Or haven't you realize the den is situated inside one of the highest spots on the island?" he asked dryly before heading towards the mountain range without waiting for Sonic to reply.

The blue hedgehog spluttered at Shadow's words and whirled around to catch up. "I know that!" he protested. "I just didn't think you would suggest climbing up the mountain range itself."

"Who said anything about climbing?"

* * *

"...I see what you meant by not climbing," Sonic commented as Shadow led him up a mountain path that meandered and wandered off-course more often than not. "But don't you think climbing up would be faster than this?"

"And risk causing an avalanche?" Shadow retorted as they made the umpteenth turn. "This path takes a long time to travel, but it is the safest."

Sonic sighed. In a way, Shadow was right, but the blue hedgehog could have just ran up the mountain range. At the speeds he could achieve, avalanches would be the last thing he worried about (he would be more concerned about the ground falling under his feet, but then again, he was fast; he would be on stable ground before the rocks under his feet even started collapsing).

But he had his own reasons. Other than just scouting out the island and having someone with more knowledge about it, all of this was also to distract Shadow. He sounded so depressed about waiting for one more month when the answers he sought were so close that Sonic didn't have the heart to make him wait that long.

Heck, if he were in Shadow's shoes (even though the shoes the black hedgehog was wearing were his), he would have been driven up the wall from having to wait that long!

 _'Still, maybe I should have offered to carry Shadow and just run up the mountain...nah, he probably would punch me in the face if I even suggest I carry him like that,'_ Sonic thought, half-amused. _'Hopefully, we'll get up the mountain range sometime today. The sun's going to set soon at this rate...'_

* * *

"Wow..." Sonic whispered in awe as they finally reached the top of the mountain. By then, the sun was setting, casting everything in a reddish-gold glow. From their position, they could see the entire northern side of the island.

The jungle stretched out below them, a carpet of green divided from the ocean by a streak of white sand. The waters glittered like a multi-faceted gem, and mirroring the ocean, above the horizon, was a golden cloudy sky swathed in soft shades of pink, purple and red, like a molten ocean of colors itself. "What a view..."

Shadow silently shared his sentiments, staring out with softer eyes. He took in a deep breath of the thinner colder air and frowned when he noticed a familiar scent carried by the strong winds. Turning to the east, his frown deepened when he noticed the darker shades of the incoming clouds. "Hedgehog, are you done?" he asked in a wary and urgent tone.

"Just a minute," Sonic replied as he dug into his rucksack and pulled out a camera to take pictures so that Tails could record the northern side of the island. Sure, they would still have to explore the entire thing on foot to map out other features that couldn't be seen from up here, but at least with this, they could get a general shape and size of the island.

Shadow couldn't find it in himself to be interested in the device, too occupied by the fact that a storm was literally brewing on the horizon. He frowned at the blue hedgehog, growling, "That minute better be quick. There's a storm coming in and I don't want to be stuck in it when it arrives."

"A storm?" Sonic perked up at that. He turned towards the direction Shadow was staring at and also noticed how close the dark clouds were. _'It'll be upon us soon if it moves that quickly,'_ Sonic thought with a frown as he put away his camera. There were plenty of opportunities later in the future to take more pictures; right now, he needed to warn Tails about the storm and get back to the Black Arms' den. "Alright, let's get back."

Shadow nodded, feeling a sense of relief at Sonic's decision. He turned to head back down, but instead of using the path they took to get up here, he chose a different path. "We'll have to take another path if we want to get down quicker. It's on the other side of the mountain range, but we can still get back to the den if we take the tunnels under the range," he explained when the blue hedgehog wasn't following. "Now get moving."

Sonic didn't need to be told twice as he followed Shadow. The path was steeper, but it seemed to lead fairly straightforward, unlike the previous path where they had to take so many turns and detours just to get to the top. As they journeyed down, the blue hedgehog took out his communicator and called Tails. "Tails, you there?"

 **"Yeah Sonic. What's up?"**

"Shadow said there's going to be a storm coming in tonight." Sonic didn't need to see Tails' face to know that it paled at his words. "Be careful when you come back to the island. Heck, just come back after the storm's over. I'll call you then. OK?" Sonic took another glance at the clouds and winced at their near-black color. The approaching night wasn't helping either. "It looks like it's going to be a rough night."

 **"Will do. Be careful Sonic. See you tomorrow."**

"See you Tails." With that, Sonic ended the call and jogged slightly to catch up to Shadow. The path was starting to meander slightly, taking them close to a large waterfall. The sky was darkening rapidly at this rate and Sonic could hear thunder rumbling louder. "Shadow, how far do we have left to go?"

"There's still some distance left," came the gruff reply. Shadow could feel the approaching storm. The wind was whistling louder, nearly reaching a howl, and lightning made its appearance. The storm was almost upon them; rain was coming soon, and they didn't want to be caught in the downpour, in the middle of the night, with visibility so low, on top of a mountain range where it was all to easy to slip and fall with a missed step.

The two hedgehogs quickened their pace. The first raindrops were starting to fall and Sonic debated running down the mountain. With his speed, he could easily reach the bottom quickly and he was sure he could carry Shadow, despite the hedgehog's larger size. Sure, he dismissed the idea earlier when they were getting up, but now, he thought the situation called for desperate measures. "Hey, Shadow, I think we should-."

His sentence got caught off by a roll of thunder as rain started falling, quickly escalating into a sheer downpour. Sonic and Shadow winced as the rain hindered their vision. Shadow was lucky; he had at least some sort of night vision, but Sonic couldn't see a thing in the dark. With the rain constantly getting into his eyes and blocking his sight, he was almost walking entirely blind. "Shadow?!" he shouted, his voice almost lost within the roar of the rain storm.

"Down here!"

"Where? I can't see a thing in this ra-." Sonic yelped when his foot slipped. The rainwater had made the rocks slippery, and with how steep the path was, he couldn't get a footing. He tripped...

Falling right into the waterfall that was next to the path.

* * *

 **And that's it! I am leaving you guys on that near-literal cliffhanger.**

 **So, what do you think? What's going to happen to Sonic? Blue speedy hedgehogs don't mix with water, so hopefully he comes out alright. See you guys in the next chapter, and if you want, add a prompt of your own too! What kind of adventure, moment or situation do you want to see the characters in?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey-o! And welcome to another chapter of 30 DAYS! Also, have you guys noticed? I have STORY COVERS! Made by yours truly. That's what I've been doing for the past week and more. And updating Where the Wind Blows, because that story has been neglected for far too long!**

 **Review responses!**

 **Leodragon678: Thank you! Honestly, you saying that this and From the Wilderness are great ideas makes me smile, because would you ever think that the original idea for From the Wilderness came from a Barbie movie? I kid you not; I got a spark of inspiration and ran away with it. And I don't plan on stopping; this train is on a roll!**

 **GuardianDragon98: I'm glad to hear that, and I'll be sure to keep up the work! Oh, and your prompt will be one of the main fillers in From the Wilderness, so just wait for that! I'm on my way on typing the chap-, I mean filler! Also, there's a continuation for your response at the end, so please check it out as well.**

 **SharpDragonKlaw: Oh, you'll find out in this chapter~!**

* * *

SHELTER IN THE STORM

"Hedgehog! Where are you?"

Shadow growled, starting to feel a niggling sense of worry in his heart. Just where was the darn blue hedgehog?! He headed up the path again, searching for a sign of the familiar blue pelt. But there was no such sign and Shadow was starting to fear for the worse. _'Where could he be? He couldn't have headed down ahead of me; I would have seen him. He could only be further up...but he couldn't be that far.'_

The black hedgehog growled again as he headed back down the path. "Hedgehog!" he called out again, ears straining for a reply that wouldn't be drowned out by the pouring rain and the raging waterfall next to... His eyes widened in shock when his mind wandered to a thought. _'What if...don't tell me he fell into the waterfall!'_

But Sonic wasn't anywhere on the path, and it was impossible to wander off it since there was a barrier on one side and the other side was where the waterfall was. The scenario was looking to be a strong possibility, and that sent Shadow hurrying closer to the waterfall. He made sure to keep an eye on the flowing water as he quickened his pace. If Sonic did fall into the waterfall, it would have carried him further down swiftly. "Hedgehog!" he shouted, hoping that perhaps Sonic would hear him and call back...

"Shadow!"

The black hedgehog immediately honed in on that faint shout. It was just a little more than a choked gasp and Shadow's suspicions were confirmed when he saw a blue head struggling to stay above water, coughing and spluttering as more water just kept rushing in. "Hedgehog! Over here!" he roared over the howling winds and drumming rain. Thunder and lightning sought to keep his shout hidden with their own cacophony, but Shadow wasn't about to have it. "To your left!" he hollered again.

"Shadow, I *cough* can't swim!"

The black hedgehog just about snarled in frustrated worry at that. _'This isn't good... And with how fast he's going, he'll be hurled right over the ledge sooner than I can get to him... I can't jump in; I won't be able to swim against the current and that won't help him... I'll have to think of another plan.'_ His mind started running through possibilities, garnet eyes flickering frantically for something, anything that could help rescue Sonic.

Meanwhile, the blue hedgehog in question was struggling to hold himself together and not dissolve into complete terror and panic. Water was his greatest enemy. He couldn't swim and he was extremely wary (he would never admit that he was scared, even though it was obvious to anyone who knew him well) of any water that wasn't in a small container, coming out of the shower head or pouring from the sky.

So right now, being tossed, pushed and pulled in by the water, having it rushed into his nose and mouth whenever he tried to take a breath, it was taking a toll on the hedgehog's heart and mind. His lungs were starting to ache from holding his breath too long and he didn't want to know what would happen when the waterfall eventually went over a cliff...

Just as that thought came to his mind, he saw the edge of the waterfall disappearing. His heart leapt to his throat. He could barely let out a scream as he was sent tumbling right over. Was this it?

There was a blur of black and Sonic felt something colliding against him. Wet fur pressed against his own while a strong arm held a fierce grip on his waist. There was the sensation of being swung to the side before landing to a stop. The blue hedgehog trembled, from the cold, the water, the fear and rush of relief, everything really. "Hedgehog..." Shadow's voice rumbled in his ears, nearly breathless with relief. "Come on, snap out of it."

"Sh-Sha-Shadow?" Sonic gasped out in return, his emerald eyes darting around before meeting a garnet gaze. There was Shadow, holding him by his waist with one arm while the other was wrapped around the vine the black hedgehog used to swing across the waterfall and catch him before he hit the bottom.

"You're alright now..." Shadow growled, though the tone lacked aggression. It was more of a rough purr than anything and Sonic found himself being pressed closer against the black hedgehog's chest. "Hold on; we're going down." With that said, Shadow adjusted his grip and jumped off the ledge again, using the vine to swing back to the other side of the waterfall, right back onto the path. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Shadow took off in a brisk jog, careful to pause and stop himself from going too fast and potentially slipping.

The journey was done mostly in silence, Shadow entirely focused on getting down to solid flat ground while Sonic was occupied by the shivers that racked his form. Not only was it cold and wet, the scare he had from nearly falling to his death right off the water had shaken him. Put him against Eggman and his robots any day; at least in that situation, he could take care of himself and put up a fight. But when you pit him against water, the sensation of being entirely helpless, unable to swim or do anything about his situation...it was nerve-wrecking to the hedgehog.

Soon, Shadow reached the end of the path. His shoes crunched against the leaf-litter of the ground as he ran faster, heading to a small cave he knew was somewhere nearby. He would prefer it if they were back at the den, but the tunnels that ran through the mountain range and led to the large cave that was the den were still further away and he didn't want to be out in the storm any longer, not with Sonic like this. Any kind of shelter would do at this rate.

Thankfully, he managed to find that small cave. Squeezing inside, he carefully set Sonic down, taking a moment to shake himself dry. Then, he sat down next to the shaking blue hedgehog, who was starting to recover. Sonic let out a few more coughs and shook his head, sending water in a spray. "Thanks..." he then breathed out. "For the save..."

"Don't mention it," Shadow returned gruffly, though his eyes didn't stray far from Sonic in (he would never admit it) concern. The blue hedgehog was shaking badly, scared and cold. He looked entirely miserable as well, and Shadow wondered if the waterfall had actually terrified Sonic more than he first thought. "...You feeling better?"

"Eventually, I will..." Sonic answered truthfully, attempting to give Shadow a grin. It ended up more of a twitchy smile than anything, judging by Shadow's unimpressed frown. "I'll be alright...sometime tomorrow..."

Shadow sighed, exasperated at the answer, but due to their circumstances, he accepted it. "It doesn't matter. We'll be stuck here for a while. I'm not risking running out in the middle of the storm." Sonic jolted in surprise when Shadow shifted, the black hedgehog moving closer so that his arm brushed against Sonic's. "Might as well wait the storm out here then."

"Y-Yeah," Sonic replied with a shiver, the wind's chill getting to him. Without a word, the blue hedgehog pulled his legs up and tucked his arms inwards, almost literally curling into a ball of blue fur and quills in an attempt to keep himself warm. "When do you think the storm's going to be over?" he asked in a quiet tone, feeling fatigue from the scare starting to affect him, weighing down his eyelids and dragging him to unconsciousness.

"Storms here usually last a day or two outside of their season. It'll be sometime tomorrow before we see a break in all the rain and wind," Shadow replied, ears twitching when they heard a tired yawn from Sonic. "Get some sleep," he told the blue hedgehog.

Sonic raised an eyebrow at that. He opened his mouth to protest, but Shadow's hand lifted up and rested on his head. Clawed fingers ran through deadly quills, the intuition of a fellow hedgehog the only thing keeping those fingers from being sliced and diced. The gesture brought a flustered expression on the blue hedgehog's face as he was torn between staring in disbelief at Shadow or hiding his face. _'Is he…petting me?'_ he thought faintly as he struggled to keep his eyes open, unwilling to be lulled into sleep by the methodic and soothing movements.

But it was a losing battle and not five minutes later, he succumbed to slumber.

When Shadow heard Sonic's breaths become slow and deep, he smirked and stopped stroking his blue quills. Now, he would have some time to get back to his brooding thoughts, something he had been content to do before Sonic and Red-Tail showed up to interrupt.

The symphony of the storm soon faded away into a dull roar as Shadow immersed himself in his thoughts, only half-heartedly keeping watch. He feared nothing but the storm during such times, since any other forms of danger were usually kept at bay due to said storm. And in a shelter such as a cave, he felt safer, more comfortable with the familiar feeling of stone surrounding him. So there really was no need to keep watch, at least too seriously.

It seemed like hours passed before Shadow's ears twitched, catching onto a faint beeping noise, one that was coming from Sonic's bag. Curious and wary to what the sound was, he tugged it free from Sonic's shoulder. A few seconds were wasted trying to figure out how to open the bag before Shadow got impatient and just tore through the fabric with his claws. Pushing his hand through the new opening, he soon pulled it out with one of the blue hedgehog's strange devices in his grasp.

It was a small rectangular block, a dark grey color with a glowing blue…thing on the top half. There were lighter grey things in different shapes on the bottom half, one that felt soft to touch. Pressing one of those buttons, Shadow nearly drop the device when sound started coming out from the device. **"Sonic, it's Tails! Sonic, can you hear me?"**

"…Fox?" Shadow asked, a bit hesitant because while that voice was familiar, it also sounded slightly distorted.

 **"Shadow? Yeah, it's me! Is Sonic there?"**

"Hedgehog's asleep," Shadow replied, deciding to push away the strangeness of the device (he should start assuming that every other device these mobians had would be strange, period).

 **"Are you guys alright? Where are you?"**

"We have taken suitable temporary shelter, so yes, we're fine. And we're in a cave on the other side of the mountain range. When the storm's over, we'll head back to the den."

 **"Don't worry about that; Knuckles will come and get you guys! It'll be faster than waiting out for the storm. It doesn't seem like it's going to stop anytime soon,"** Tails offered, and in the background, Shadow could hear something rumbling and moving. **"Shadow, can you activate the GPS on Sonic's communicator? It's the small white button on the left side. Not the ones under the screen though."**

Shadow stared incomprehensibly at the device. Just what the heck was a screen? _'Well, he did say a small white button, so…'_ Taking a look at the left side, he found several buttons, some of which were white, but they didn't seem 'small' as Tails seemed to imply. Then, turning the device, his eyes caught the sight of a small speck of white, set on the left face of the device. He took a chance and pressed it, hand jolting in a knee-jerk reaction when the device buzzed.

 **"Great! That should do it,"** Tails' voice informed the black hedgehog. **"Just hang tight you guys."**

With that, the blue glow of the thing faded away and the device fell silent. Shadow stared at it for a few more seconds, thinking that another voice was going to pop out again, but when it remained quiet, he decided to put it back inside Sonic's bag and follow the fox's advice, leaning back against the stone wall.

* * *

Shadow did not know exactly how long it had passed, but he supposed it had been some hours into the night by the time Sonic woke up. Blue eyelids blinked gradually before revealing sleep-dazed emerald orbs, not much different from the eyes Sonic was sporting when he came to the den earlier (much, much earlier) today. They took in their surroundings blearily before awareness returned and Sonic nearly yelped when his head shot up from Shadow's chest fur.

"Calm down," the black hedgehog growled, nearly getting clipped by Sonic if he hadn't moved his muzzle away in time. He returned the favor with a pinch to Sonic's ear, and that earned another distressed and pained yelp. "Down."

"Uh, right! Sorry about that...wait, no, what was that for?!" Sonic yelped, remembering just how he fell asleep in the first place.

"That was for nearly hitting my face," Shadow growled lowly, thinking that Sonic was referring to the pinch he gave the blue hedgehog's ear. "Now settle down. The fox called while you were sleeping."

"Tails?" It was as if a switch was suddenly flipped as Sonic's hands darted for his bag. "Is he alright? Is he safe? He's not out in this storm, is he? And what the heck?" The last question was directed to the brand new hole his bag was sporting.

Shadow huffed and glanced away. "I...was having a hard time getting the...the voice-giving device," he explained awkwardly.

"Dude, do you have something against bags?" Sonic asked, inspecting the tear more carefully. "I'm not mad, but you might wanna tell me before I leave any bags around you. Also, you don't have to tear it like this. Here, just pull open from here and it'll open." Sonic demonstrated the movement, opening the drawstring bag and reaching in for his communicator. "Also, the *pft* 'voice-giving device' is called a communicator. It allows me to talk to Tails and anyone else who has one even if we're far away."

"I see..." Shadow nodded, giving the communicator a wary glance as it came into view.

"So, what did Tails say? Is he alright?" Sonic asked as he checked the device, in case his...ahem, his experience had got it wet. Tails wouldn't like that, not when Sonic had a rather impressive record for destroying machinery (unfortunately, this ability didn't discriminate between allies' or foe's machines) and would need to get his communicator fixed, again.

"He just said that someone called 'Knuckles' would be getting us," Shadow replied with a frown, trying to put a face to the name. "Perhaps he is the red echidna you are with?"

"Ah, yeah, that's him," Sonic nodded, finished with his check. He opened the communicator and looked through its history. The last call that came through was around two hours ago, and from Tails. "Since Knux is getting us, that means Tails won't be. That's good..." he muttered under his breath, his finger quickly seeking out Knuckles' communicator number and calling the echidna.

While Sonic was busy calling Knuckles, Shadow's ears were twitching. Despite the roar of the rain pouring outside, he could hear something else. It sounded like...like a huge creature or object crashing through the forest, and it was steadily growing louder...

 **"Who's this?!"** a roar suddenly came from the communicator, causing Shadow to hiss and glare at the device, his concentration disrupted. **"If this is Tails, I'm working on it, alright?! I'm nearly there!"**

"Sorry Knux, but it's Sonic!" Sonic chirped, feeling better when he heard that Knuckles was nearly with them. "Glad to know you're nearly there though."

 **"Sonic?"** There was a distant sound of a tree crashing that was mirrored by the sound coming right outside of their shelter. **"Right, I can see your cave. Just hang on, let me get this thing to-."**

The two hedgehogs moved towards the entrance and Sonic's eyes widened in shock. There was Knuckles, _piloting the X-Tornado!_ _'Tails isn't going to be happy if Knux destroys that thing with how he's waving it around.'_ "Don't worry, just stay put! We're coming over to you!" Sonic yelled, both towards the vehicle and into the communicator, before hanging up and turning to Shadow. "Come on Shads, let's go!"

"Don't call me that," Shadow huffed even as the two ran out and darted for the strange metallic contraption that Sonic was easily climbing into. Soon, the two hedgehogs were inside one of the two cockpits, safe and dry.

"Alright Knux!" Sonic called out, using a device inside their cockpit to reach Knuckles'. "Just press the yellow button on your right, yeah, that one. That's auto-pilot mode. Much safer."

"And my piloting isn't safe?" Knuckles yelled, offended despite acknowledging that yes, he had no idea how to operate the X-Tornado (he just went through some instructions Tails gave him and figured out the rest for himself. It wasn't as successful as he would be comfortable with) and it would be definitely safer this way.

"No," both Shadow and Sonic deadpanned at the same time, surprisingly. Shadow continued, "I could hear you coming. With how loud and disruptive you are, you would have alerted the entire jungle, and I do not need other animals, or my pack, out and about while in this storm to find out what is causing all of this ruckus."

There was a brief pause before Sonic cleared his throat. "Anyway, let's get going."

"Back to the den," Shadow murmured. Sonic took note of that and had Knuckles change the destination accordingly. Besides, it would be for the best; they didn't want to camp out in the X-Tornado the entire storm, even if it was pretty comfy and safe and away from the elements outside.

The trek took a while since the X-Tornado, stuck in its ground mode, was unable to simply fly over the mountain range. It was very, very late into the night (or very, very early in the day) when they arrived at the den. By then, all three were pretty hungry, grumpy and tired.

"Finally!" Sonic breathed out loudly in relief as they boarded off the X-Tornado and scurried quickly into the den. They got dripping wet for their efforts (the rain had not been merciful), but that was nothing. What mattered was that they could finally rest!

Shadow only had a few seconds to agree with a huff before Red-Tail suddenly charged out from the sleeping (or not-quite-sleeping, seeing as some of the Black Arms were quick to get away from Red-Tail) Black Arms. "Shadow! What a relief that you're back! Are you alright? Are you hurt? You didn't stay out in the storm the entire time, did you?!" Red-Tail launched one question after another.

"I'm fine, Red-Tail," Shadow grumbled, pushing the Black Arm's head away from him. "And no, I'm not hurt, and I didn't stay outside. I took shelter in a cave. What do you think I am, suicidal?"

Red-Tail sagged in relief. And before Shadow knew it, he found himself being manhandled (or hedgehog-handled) into the midst of the pack. "Red-Tail! Enough!" Shadow barked, but the Black Arm staunchly ignored his friend and leader. Shadow was pushed onto the bedding on the stone floor and Red-Tail curled tightly around him, until you could only see the tips of Shadow's spines sticking out of the mass of black and red. "This isn't necessary!"

Sonic muffled his chuckles at the sight of Shadow being bundled away. "Ah, he's just worried about you," he stated quietly. "We were gone for a long time after all. Speaking of which, I should probably call Tails..."

"In the morning," Knuckles grumbled, already finding a spot in the cave to lie down in. "For now, sleep."

* * *

 **Bit of a sudden ending, but it seems like a good place to stop, so there's that...**

 **Anyway, I'm sorry for the long wait. I wanted to get Where the Wind Blows at the same number of chapters as From the Wilderness; seemed unfair that one of my main stories was being neglected like that. And no, 30 DAYS doesn't count. Not only is it for fluffy things that aren't really plot-driven (if that's the right description), but I kind of need a list of all the prompts so that I can arrange them in a chronological order. Yes, not exactly plot-driven, but it doesn't mean I'm about to give half-assed chapters that doesn't make sense.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!**


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